Celtics buzz: C's return to Garden, look to eliminate Miami Heat

AP PhotoBoston Celtics forward Paul Pierce (34) goes up for a shot against Miami Heat forward Dorell Wright, left, and forward Udonis Haslem during the second half of Game 3 in the first round of their NBA basketball playoff series Friday, April 23, 2010, in Miami.

Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade lit up the court for 46 points on Sunday, allowing Miami to live another day against the Celtics in the first round Eastern Conference playoff matchup.

The Celtics will get another chance to put away the Heat tonight in Boston. Though they are up 3-1 in the series, Boston.com writes that the "Celtics have a sense of urgency."

[Ray] Allen put up 150 free throws when he got to the practice facility yesterday. He made 145. After that, he and his teammates looked at game tape from the day before. What was supposed to be a 20-minute film session stretched to an hourlong look in the mirror.

“There was a lot of stopping and starting, then explaining and re-explaining,’’ said Celtics coach Doc Rivers. “That happens when you win sometimes, too. But I thought we needed to watch the film.’’

The Boston Herald writes that it might be time for the Celtics to change up their game plan in dealing with Wade.

The game plan with Wade is to turn him into a jump shooter and hope he misses. It might be time for Plan B.

A career 28.9 3-point shooter, Wade is making 43.3 percent from deep this series, including 5-of-7 on Sunday.

“He’s making them in this series,” Rivers said. “We just have to play him better overall. He’s taking them, he’s making them - at some point you have to play him.”

Considering how explosive Wade is getting to the rim, it’s understandable that the C’s have given him space. But Ray Allen, who is primarily matched up with Wade, knows that needs to change.

“I just have to trust that my guys are behind me and they’re watching what’s going on,” Allen said. “I have to put more pressure on him or at least start up a little higher. At the same time, I don’t want him to drive to the hole. It is a tricky situation I’m in, but it’s not going to be easy, so we have to work together.”

Meanwhile, Dan Shaughnessy, writing a column on Sports Illustrated, is already looking ahead to the second round.

The Celtics will beat the Cavaliers in Round 2 of the NBA playoffs. There. I said it.

Call me a knucklehead. Call me old-school. Call me a fool (Cedric Maxwell did). This was my pick before the start of the playoffs.

Conventional wisdom holds that the Celtics can't win this year because they are too old (six players over 30), they don't rebound very well and they are unable or unwilling to play the kind of defense that marked their title run two years ago. Kevin Garnett has never fully recovered from last summer's knee surgery and old guys can't sleepwalk through a 50-win regular season, then kickstart a championship run when the playoffs start.

I'm not bold enough to predict three more rounds of playoff victories for this Boston team, but I like the Celts against the heavily favored Cavs.

An article on FOXNews.com examines how older teams such as Boston and San Antonio are still succeeding despite their age.

The first round of the NBA playoffs seems to be telling us that old school is now in session.

Fans of the Los Angeles Lakers may be skeptical at the moment, but those who root for the Boston Celtics and San Antonio Spurs are being treated to the joys instigated by experienced teams. For now, at least. So, while much of the basketball world was reeling in the aftermath of the Lakers' recent, two-game limp through Oklahoma City, the crusty C's and Spurs were grabbing command of their respective series.

This means the self-appointed sages of hoop insight are vigorously nodding. See, the guys from Boston and San Antonio often are embraced by those who don't mind hedging their prediction bets on accomplished teams with their knuckles still clutching the sill beneath the window of opportunity. As the Celtics and Spurs dragged injury and chronological issues through the regular season, it's easy for these sages to warn us about writing off the teams in question.

We're not sure how far the sages or teams in question can ride this dynamic, but the Celtics and Spurs look pretty nice right now.